Chevy Spark discontinued. 2022 is its last model year.

[Dirk Diggler]

I just saw you can get a 5 speed manual on a base "S" Nissan Versa. Have you driven any of those? I'm not a Nissan fan, but at least they are still offering a manual.

5speed Versa is probably a fine car. The new ones look fantastic.

[7milesout]

Last I heard, you could still get a 5 speed with the Sentra and Altima. But I haven't looked in a while. Those are good cars, sans the CVT.

[Mark]

I just saw you can get a 5 speed manual on a base "S" Nissan Versa. Have you driven any of those? I'm not a Nissan fan, but at least they are still offering a manual.

My plan is to drive my Mirage for 15 years while extending the life of my Forester at the same time. If all goes well, I may do some test driving of vehicles around 2032.

In the meantime, I've learned to become content with what I already have. I have to many interests in life to waste a lot of money on cars.

[Dirk Diggler]

Last I heard, you could still get a 5 speed with the Sentra and Altima. But I haven't looked in a while. Those are good cars, sans the CVT.

You really think Nissan hasn't done any improvements with their JATCO units since the massive class action lawsuit?

[Mark]

I dated a few girls that just didn't drive. Beggars can't be choosers, they couldn't care less what I drove. Anything was better than walking or taking the loser cruiser/big blue limo(city transit). But being a chauffeur gets old fast.
As long as your car isn't full of trash and doesn't smell like rotten ass I can't see too many prospects caring much. Just glue a few caddilac or mercedes emblems on it if you're worried about losing a car snob.

My current ol' lady admitted recently that she was pretty put off by my lovely back yard full of atv's and an assortment of random vehicles and tires. Looked like a junkyard apparently.....Looked fine to me lol.

The gas fumes coming through the holes of the floor boards of my old Honda Civic Wagon helped my cause in the dating department, but I could have been wrong about that!

[Mark]

Yeah I have been thinking about it from a philosophical point of view about this whole idea of "Spending above your means and accumulating debt in order to give off a social image that you are more wealthy than is true".

The only problem with this notion is that if everybody else is doing the exact same thing and is even buying a $1200 iphone that is tied to a contract of service that is over $80 per month and also is financing a new car in 2022 (When car prices are at an all time high) and obligated to have full coverage insurance and paying over $1000 per month just for their vehicle payment and add to that all the other status symbols that they must spend for such as jewelry, designer clothing and other accoutrements............

All in an effort to "keep up with the Joneses" or whatever........... Its a no-win proposal because how will you out-peacock these others if all of them are engaged in the same phoney theatrics of "pretending" they are richer than what they truly are. And also who do you even impress when you strut around like a peacock? The sad truth is the neighbors will more likely be jelous of you and talking sh!t behind your back or family members come out of the woodwork to ask you for a loan and when you tell them you cant afford to loan them the cash they will assume you are lying and being selfish.

I have an uncle that is very wealthy guy and many family members have asked him for a loan and he always refuses and now they cant stand him and dont even want to invite him over for thanksgiving turkey because they are so indignant that he wont lend them any money.

Imagine I was a high school football player and all my team-mates are on steroids and also all the other teams we play against are also taking anabolic steroids. If that is the case then what is the point of me taking steroids? They would offer me no competitive advantage being that all the others are already on the roids. I would recognize that situation as a no-win game so would be better off to either compete naturally just for fun or else quit the team.

In the same way I find "Keeping up with the Joneses" to also be a no-win game. Better to focus on developing my character and my inner qualities to impress society rather than to try to impress them with status symbols and materialism. In dating a girl now and she doesnt care about the Mirage car. Says its good that the car is dependable and gets good gas mileage.

The good thing with dating is that when you approach a girl and get her phone number and set up the date she is not going to know what car you drive until the second date. And if she first date goes well and then she says she wants to leave you because of your Mirage well....... That indicates she is not a good prospect for long term relationship.

I paid $99 for my first cell phone (1st generation Moto G/US Cellular) in 2014.

Given my poor cell reception in my area, I bought $49 Moto G Play/Verizon in 2017. I actually bought the phone for my daughter to use while she was attending graduate school at the University of North Dakota (summer of 2017). Once her summer classes were done, she left to get married in Finland. Europe uses GSM phones, and Verizon is CDMA. So I switched to Verizon & her phone once she left the States. It was sort of my plan when I bought her the phone. She was moving from Chad, Africa to Helsinki, Finland, & she just needed a phone for 3-4 months.

I bought a $159 Moto G Power this past December. This was sort of a splurge for me. It was $10 more than my previous cell phones combined.

The ONLY reason I bought a new phone was the WiFi calling feature. I have very poor cell phone reception. Talking to my parents meant standing outside in my driveway. Calling students to set up driving lessons was such a pain. If I had a number of calls to make, I went to my neighbor's house (for better reception). I wish I had bought a phone with the WiFi feature even sooner now. It's awesome!

Thus, I have spent $308 on three cell phone so far. My $159 Moto G Power seems like a great phone. I can't imagine paying more for one!

My Verizon plan is $25/month (unlimited talk/text/data (slows down after 5G). It comes to $26.76/month after tax & everything. It's no contract, & I have never been charged anything extra.

If someone is paying huge amounts of money to use a cell phone, that's by choice. I'm amazed cell phones are so cheap, & services are so affordable! I don't say that about much else in life either!!!!

I am typing this on a $119 Lenovo Chromebook 3 (Best Buy/free shipping) that I bought around Christmas. I'm sure there are better Chromebooks, but I don't care because this one was $119 with free shipping. It works great! I have zero complaints. Paying hundreds more for a better one would just make me like it less!

Life is about choices, & what you want to spend money on. I hate spending huge amounts of money on electronics that we all know will become outdated in a few years.

It's not hard to be smarter than marketing!

I am not impressed by someone who pays $1,200 for an iPhone, but I won't share what I really think!

[7milesout]

You really think Nissan hasn't done any improvements with their JATCO units since the massive class action lawsuit?

I have no idea. But it doesn't make any difference. The manual will always be better than an automagic, especially a Jatco CVT.

[Dirk Diggler]

I have no idea. But it doesn't make any difference. The manual will always be better than an automagic, especially a Jatco CVT.

I'm surprised they haven't tried Toyota's AISIN approach with the CVT launch gear. Toyota claims it greatly reduces the stress on their CVT. I wonder why Nissan hasn't abandoned the steel push belt style too? JATCO is very secretive.

[fc321]

In 2016 when I bought my Mirage I also did a test-drive of the Nissan Versa Sedan. It had hand-crank windows and rear seat did not fold down to access the trunk so you would have to take out the bolts to remove the rear seats back if you are carrying something really long such as lumber. But the main turnoff was the price, they wanted like 13,500 compared to Mirage which was around 10,500 and as far as the drive itself I felt both cars where on the same level.

Choosing the mirage was a better choice because that hatchback is tremendously convenient for landlords like me that have to transport construction materials and other large items often.

What these folks that are saddling themselves with debt in order to project an image of affluence dont realize is that they are trading short term gain for long term pain. People that save money and invest it rather than squander it can often retire 10-15 years earlier and achieve financial independence where you dont have the stress of running out of money

[Fummins]

In 2016 when I bought my Mirage I also did a test-drive of the Nissan Versa Sedan. It had hand-crank windows and rear seat did not fold down to access the trunk so you would have to take out the bolts to remove the rear seats back if you are carrying something really long such as lumber.

Choosing the mirage was a better choice because that hatchback is tremendously convenient for landlords like me that have to transport construction materials and other large items often.

Last weekend I had to pick up 4 10' lengths of aluminum downspout. This was the first time I really wished I had a roof rack or a flip open rear window in my car. I spend more time getting the truck running than it would have taken installing a roof rack. Maybe I need to join the tiny utility trailer owners club?